Memories of my Dad

 My Dad is gone. I owe so much of who I am to him. My memory is not the best, so I thought it best to capture some key memories I have of him.

First, he was a machine, a man of keeping a schedule. I remember the automatic coffee pot firing up around 4:00 am. The sounds and smells would drift into my bedroom, which was just off of the kitchen. He was off to work early, so that he would be home by 4:00 pm. Dinner was generally at 4:30 pm. After that, he was off to work on the farm. By the time he settled in to his recliner to "watch some tv", he was exhausted. I don't know that he ever saw the end of any show that wasn't over by 9.

Back when I was young, you didn't bug Dad at work. But I knew what time he would be home, and I would often start walking down the road, just so he would stop and pick me up on the way. It wasn't until I was an adult, and had found my career, that I found out he was a computer analyst for Hill Air Force Base. I walked into the same line of work that he had for decades.

His work often took him on TDY. I still to this day am not quite sure what it stood for, but it meant he would be gone for the work week to another base. The top destination was Wright Patterson Air Base in Cincinnati, which he referred to as Right Pitiful. He did bring me back Reds gear, and that was my baseball team growing up. He also would put all his change in his toiletry bag, which he would let me keep. I still remember the smell of his aftershave coming out from that bag.

We fished, hunted and camped. Our favorite camping spot was on the Hayden's Fork of the Bear River. Not in a forest service campground, but just off a dirt road that led down to the creek. We caught a lot of fish in that little creek. He also loved to camp at Spirit Lake. That trip was always a week long, because of the distance. 

We didn't have much, but one thing we always had was either a camper or a trailer. Every night, Mom, Dad and I would play Hearts and Spades. His favorite phrase was "Faint heart never a fair maiden won". I think that was his way of saying to take risks in games.

We took a few longer trips. One was up to see my sister Patty in Montana. I have a few great memories from that trip. One was the route we were taking. If we cut through Island Park in Idaho, we would shave a lot of time off the trip. I don't know if you've been on that road, but it takes a pretty steep climb at several points. At one of those, it was snowing hard. The truck in front of us came to a halt in the snow, and so did we. Then we started to slide backwards. Dad executed some sort of race car move, the truck spun a perfect 180, and we were headed back down the road, rather than sliding off the cliff. We lost time and added miles, but we ended up spending the night at Flathead Lake in Montana. Dad decided to make the most of it, and we rented a small fishing boat for the next day. Mom hooked a big lake trout. As she reeled it in, she didn't wait for the net. Somehow she hoisted that monster into the boat without breaking the line. 

We also took a trip to Disneyland, camper and all. I don't remember much about that trip, other than I'm sure it gave me a life long love for Disney.

Deer hunting was a lot of fun. We would lay out all our gear on the kitchen table the night before the season began. I'll bet Mom loved that. Open up the back door, walk up the hill behind our house, and you were hunting. I remember one season we came upon the first draw with some trees and brush. Standing in the clearing right below were two bucks. We counted to 3, each hit our mark, and were dragging out the deer that morning. That was a quick season! Dad would process our own meat, using the old stone building behind our house and sometimes a table in the basement. 

We would go to the "duck runs" in Weber county for duck season. If the weather was right, we would easily go through several boxes of shells in one outing. 

Pheasant hunting involved walking across the street and down toward the Weber river. It was a unique, wonderful place to grow up.

On one hunt, our dog ran into the biggest, meanest raccoon I've ever seen. She was losing, and there was too much movement to get off a shotgun blast that wouldn't injure the dog. Dad grabbed that raccoon by the neck and took it out with just his pocket knife. This was one of many times he seemed a bit larger than life to me.

Every spring, we worked with all the local men to clean the irrigation canal. Man, that was a lot of work, but also a lot of fun.

I remember from a very young age being able to help with hay hauling. My "job" was to pull up on the hand clutch when I was told, then push it down when we needed to stop moving. I wasn't allowed to turn the tractor and wagon at first, but eventually I was old enough to do that. And soon after that, I was tossing bales and Grandpa was driving. I loved pulling into Grandpa's dirt driveway. The wagon would pass under an apple tree, so I'd be on top of the bales to grab a green apple early in the season, or an even better one if we were doing 3rd crop.

Directions for backing up the trailer consisted of "uphill", or "downhill". I never really understood the difference, but Grandpa and Dad sure knew what they were doing.

I was big time into boy scouts, and Dad was right there with me. He served as our Scout Commissioner for years. 

We did a lot of fishing up at Soldier Creek with Dad's best friend, Max Searle. We would leave so early in the morning, but it was ok, because we would stop at the cafe in Heber for breakfast. I swear that place had the best breakfast anywhere. We'd still be early enough to have the boat in the water before sunrise. Triple teasers or Needlefish lures on leaded line was how we rolled. And the fishing was incredible.

I don't remember my Dad ever getting mad at me. I think maybe my sisters maybe set the bar pretty low for me? Who knows, maybe it was just the luck of being not only the youngest but the only son.

Dad could fix anything. Well, he would at least try. He spent many hours battling the pipes downstairs. He often had to repair the leaky porch roofs. He claimed the only thing holding our farm machinery together was grease. He also was of the opinion that you can fix anything with duct tape and bailing twine.

Sometimes, his ideas weren't the best. One year he decided our front lawn needed to be burned to get the dead grass out. It took the lawn a full season to recover. Another time, he decided to make his own dandelion wine. The good news for him was that his concoction fermented. The bad news was that every bottle exploded.

One of our favorite treats was to get root beer and soft serve ice cream from Pendleton's gas station. You could take a rinsed out milk jug and get them to fill it with root beer. Good stuff.

We had a large garden, which he worked hard in. We had a lot of raspberries, and a go-to treat was fresh berries covered in sugar in a bowl of milk.

One time we were hunting, and he told me the only thing you can do with gloves on is pee your pants. I'm not sure what inspired that nugget of wisdom, but I think a good pair of gloves is appropriate for many circumstances.

When Mom and Dad moved to Ivins, Dad went out of control in the backyard. He and Mom would grow driving and bring back plants. No, not from the store, just random cacti and other plants they dug up. Pretty sure they broke a few laws, but I digress. The key thing is that the back yard was out of control. Huge trees and plants, with no real order. It was very much like a jungle.

I remember one of the first times he met Lori. Somehow, we had him going to church with us. That was a rare treat! He offered to drive, and as he pulled up, he decided to turn on the windshield washers. They weren't aimed exactly right, and he ended up dousing Lori in windshield washer fluid.

One time, there was a fire on the other side of the valley. We went to help. It was then I realized we didn't really know what we were doing as far as brush fires go. At one point, we were surrounded by flames. We were fortunate enough to have a man on a bulldozer come to our rescue.

Mom had a lot of back problems, and another thing I learned from Dad was service. He went to great lengths to care for her and make her comfortable. He built a platform in our family room and put a hospital bed on it. He installed a phone line in there just for her. 

He may have not been a religious man, but he taught me service, the importance of family, and how to work hard. 

 

Spring Break 2021

This spring break came together in a hurry. A bit of a bonus from Lori's work, and we had a place booked. We stayed at the Polo Towers, right off the strip. We were on the south end, close to MGM, Aria, etc. Polo Towers is a vacation club / timeshare place, so Lori had to endure a sales pitch when we arrived. Parking consisted of a limited number of underground spots, each with no turnaround space. That's right, just 3 dead end lanes. And if you didn't score one of those spots, you had to share with the outdoor lot of the Travelodge. That place looks like a crime scene, and in fact, on our last day there, a heavy police presence was there for hours. 

Traven loved the setup. He basically had his own private suite, complete with a small kitchen area, bathroom, TV, etc. We had plenty of room, since it was just the 3 of us. And our suite was bigger, so we had a kitchen table, sofa, recliner, etc. It was quiet for Vegas, and we slept well.

The pool was lame. It was on the rooftop, which is cool, but it was only 3 feet deep. We didn't do much swimming.

For road trips, I either drive vacation truck (Showgren's F150) or I rent something a bit bigger. Since it was just the 3 of us, I opted to rent a slightly bigger car. Well, Enterprise in Spanish Fork was hopping, the size of car we rented wasn't there, so we ended up getting upgraded to a Nissan Armada. That's right, 8 seats for just us! It was great. It came equipped with a cruise control that auto slowed for traffic. That through me for a loop at first. And it had this cool aerial view when backing up. I'm not quite sure how they pull that off, but it was like having a drone monitoring my parking job.

After over a year of isolation, the VA started allowing limited visits this month. I called, they had just had a cancellation, and we were able to stop in and see my Dad on the way down. He has lost quite a bit of weight. He refuses to wear his hearing aids, so it's a struggle to visit with him. And he usually answers questions with more than off topic answers. We were limited to a half hour, but it was still a wonderful experience.

We decided to buy a few items at the Walmart before heading down to Vegas. One item was hand sanitizer, of course. We got in the car, and Lori gave each of our hands a generous portion. As I began to rub it in, I realized she had actually bought hand soap. Yeah, that was fun to try and rub in with no water!

We arrived in Las Vegas and went to dinner at Chapalas Mexican restaurant. Good food. I'd go there again. Las Vegas is a bit behind Utah on Covid recovery, so it still felt weird at times to be out. Lots of people wearing masks, even outdoors. And I think the kids just barely went back to in-person learning this last week.

Tuesday, we walked. And we found out that a lot of places have adjusted dates and times due to Covid, but those aren't shown online. We went with the 7 experience GoCity pass, which is a great deal. Anyway, we walked to the High Roller, just to find out it didn't open until 4 pm. We then walked to Madame Tussuads. Lori decided she needed a bathroom. Like a fool, I told her to just step into the Venetian, find a bathroom, and we would get a place in line. Nearly an hour later, we found her! She was on the wrong floor, and about as far into that casino shopping area as you can get. I told her to stay put, and we'd find her. She said she was by a waterfall. I didn't even know there was one in there!

At any rate, we finally made it into the museum. I've done it several times, but it is always entertaining!

Lori was feeling a bit off, so we opted to go see The Unholy that night, rather than walk anymore. Solid movie, but not as scary as I would have hoped.

Wednesday, we started off at Pole Position raceway. The carts didn't look Mike sized, so I sat this one out. It was more fun for me to watch Lori and T race! It was an indoor track, and they were moving pretty quickly. Lori was a bit more conservative in her racing strategy, but they both had fun.

Located at the same place is a virtual reality outfit. We chose to slaughter zombies as a family. Not to brag, but I had the highest kill count. I'd definitely do this again.

Wednesday afternoon was Meow Wolf. It is located in Area 15, and I don't really know how to describe it. It's a weird looking "store", with hidden entries into back rooms. Those rooms have slides, activities, hidden items related to the experience, etc. It was fun, but for the price, I would have hoped for more. Area 15 actually has other activities, but each is very pricey.

After this, we went on the High Roller. It takes that boy 30 minutes to make a full rotation. If you haven't been on it, it's the giant structure that looks like a Ferris wheel. Each "car" actually can easily seat a dozen people, but thanks to Covid, we had one all to ourselves. The views were great. There are screens telling you how long you have been on, how high you are, and all sort of facts about Vegas. Definitely worth doing.

Thursday, we did the Hunger Games exhibition. It left me with a desire to rewatch the movies. And we got to test our archery skills. That was way cool.

We then went to the Big Apple coaster at New York New York. I wasn't feeling it, so Lori and T went, then T went again. Traven has come a long way in overcoming his fear of coasters. This one is high speed, has a loop and some corkscrews.

We ended this day with the 4D shows at the Excalibur. Not nearly as cool as I remember the "magic motion" machines being, but still, worth trying.

And Friday, we were on our way home. This is pretty much what I got out of Traven for HOURS. With having his own room, I think he might have stayed up a bit late each night!

No buffets, weird hours and the usual Vegas issues of half naked people walking the Strip (kind of gives it a new meaning), but all in all, it was great to be back!

The Beginning of Alyssa and Dallin Henderson

 To begin, I'd just like to state I have 5 wonderful children. They are each unique, and I could not love them more. I've written in the past about Jason's accidents, Traven's Graves disease, etc. This will be a very Alyssa-centric post.

Alyssa has always been a very self motivated, driven individual. I never worried about her grades. An A- one time about crushed her soul. She chose good friends, exceled at sports and always followed a path of righteousness. She is a rule follower, leader and just fills everyone around her with joy.

She never really had time for a boyfriend. Sure, she dated in high school, and there were a quite a few who tried to win her heart, but that wasn't her plan. She planned on a mission, so having a boyfriend before that would serve no purpose. 

Well, she did serve a mission, which was a truly remarkable time. I have written about some of those experiences before. When she returned home, I joked with her about dating, and even bet her lunch that she would be married within two years. She laughed. That wasn't her plan. It was all about an education at this point. And work. Did I mention what a hard worker she is? She had scholarships lined up for her first two years of college, and saved up so she could pay for her own housing, car, etc.

During that first year back at USU, she met a boy. They dated, and soon he was her "boyfriend". But she didn't seem to be in love. I had told her some day she fall hard, but this was a slow burn. I heard them on the phone with each other one time, and thought they sounded like an old married couple, not like two kids in love. After 8 months of this, he decided he wanted to date other girls, and it was over. She was heartbroken. It was at this time I really noticed how fiercely loyal her friends are. I actually pity that first boy that broke her heart. He is lucky to be alive. You've heard of scorched earth policy? This guy was signed up for inappropriate dating apps, a daily phone call with cat trivia and more. 

Right after the breakup, we had our family vacation to South Dakota. She just wasn't herself, and stated she would not date again. She had moved home, since the cost of USU was going to be so high. She had also decided to attend BYU-I starting in the fall, but that heartbreaker was going to be there, and there really wasn't much point in going there anymore. She would sell her housing contract she had there and stay at home. She could really just hide from the world at this point.  But you know what? That girl listens to the spirit, and when we got back home, she announced she was not going to settle for feeling like she did. She downloaded a dating app and put herself back out there. She would date, have fun and enjoy life.

Someone like Alyssa being out there on an app was like throwing gasoline on a fire. Within hours, she had hundreds of would be suitors. She had to remove her account within days. There was just too much to even keep up with. During that narrow window, a boy named Dallin slipped in. He asked her to go hiking to a place called Alien Tower. We joked about that even being a real thing, but a quick Google search revealed it to be so. They hiked, then after talked for 3 hours. THREE HOURS. That was probably the first sign that there might be something there.

They both had some dates with other people lined up. Some took place, some were cancelled. They fell hard! This is what I had anticipated would happen some day. It went from a first date, to seeing each other almost every day. It went from talking about future plans, to discussing marriage. And that went from summer, to spring, to getting married in December. 

We had short notice to get things booked. The Payson temple had one opening, December 18th at 2:30 pm. We looked at reception venues, and the one we wanted just happened to be available December 19th after 3 pm. I have to tell you, having the temple on one day, then the reception the next day, was an absolute blessing.

I asked at work if anyone knew a good photographer, and we found a gem in Elk Ridge. She truly has a talent, and her price was a lot better than any others we found. We also wanted a videographer, and I can't wait to see his work. He is the brother of one of Alyssa's best friends, and a pop star in Africa. No joke.  We found a wedding cake designer in a girl that used to be in our ward. We borrowed picture frames for the reception from Lori's sister. The list goes on an on and on. Kaylee was the greatest maid of honor you can imagine. Lori and her Mom aced the maternal side of things.

We have good friends in the ward, the Rifes. Brother Rife was a mission president in Korea, and has been a temple sealer in 3 different temples. He currently is one in the Payson temple, so I thought it would be a personal touch to have him perform the ordinance. He was AMAZING. He took the couple and their parents to dinner a few nights before the sealing. We spent close to 3 hours, most of which was Brother Rife not only getting to know Dallin (he was Alyssa's Sunday School teacher for two years), but explaining to them how the day would go vs. how it would have gone pre-pandemic. He is a spiritual giant, one of the smartest people I know, and has a great sense of humor. I could listen to him for hours. It truly was a wonderful night. 

The day of the sealing, we were greeted by the temple recorder. His name is Kelly Woodbrey, and he just happens to be a neighbor who was in our ward for years and was also in our stake presidency. I also coached one of his sons a few times, so it was again nice to see a familiar face to guide us through this experience. 

This sealing was certainly different from the ones I've experienced pre-pandemic, but we were all so grateful the temple is open for these things! I just sat there, reflecting on the many tender mercies that had led to this point. We truly have a loving Heavenly Father.

Dallin's family provided a grooms dinner before the reception, which was just great. Honestly, his family is amazing. I'm so happy that Alyssa will have so much more love in her life. The reception was better attended than I would have guessed. I truly enjoyed our Daddy/Daughter dance, where we had just a few minutes to talk, joke and enjoy each other.

One other experience I had during this really brought me to my knees. Two days before the sealing, I helped Dallin move out of his apartment. When I came home, I took a shower. As I got ready, I just didn't feel right. I took my temp, and I was over 101. I was devastated. I had made it this close, just to get sick? I turned to prayer. Not to pray to feel better, but just to not be a distraction for the wedding. Dallin found me a place that could do a rapid Covid test, so I did that and found tested negative. By Thursday, I was feeling much better. What a time to get hit with a 24 hour bug. I was still worried my temp would spike, but at the temple I measured 89. Brother Woodbrey asked me if I had a pulse. I think it's more the fact that he is a bit short and probably took the temp of my shoulder, not my forehead!

Lori asked me several times if I was sad. I don't think that's the correct word. As a father, my desire is for my children to be happy. When I see how happy Dallin makes her, I feel safety and warmth. I know I won't always be around in this life. I feel old. I feel melancholy. Is that the right word? I miss the days when my children were small. It seems like just a short time ago. But I feel hope as well. I look forward to seeing how Dallin and Alyssa's family evolves over time. I look forward to our trip to Dallas for an open house in their honor. So I guess I feel warm, safe, old, nostalgic, melancholy and hopeful, with a gentle dusting of sadness tossed in there. I feel like a father, who has now watched two of his children find love and start their own families. 

South Dakota 2020

For years, I've told my family I wanted to vacation in South Dakota. I have fond memories of being there with my Mom and Dad, probably when I was an early teen. That's the trip when Dad tried to make it to Island Park, got caught in a snow storm, and ended up doing a 180 degree turn with the camper on top of the truck, while sliding downhill in traffic. Now that's a memory! We spent a couple of days in Fairview, Montana, then journeyed back through South Dakota.

It took some time, but once my mother in law Sally mentioned she wanted to see South Dakota, I finally made it happen this year. We booked a vacation rental in February, right before Covid-19 took over. I figured if you can't social distance in Wyoming and South Dakota, where can you?

On Friday the 10th of July, we picked up a 15 passenger van, which we named Bertha. That evening, we set off for Rock Springs. Since the van provided no luggage room, we took Grandpa Eric's truck loaded with our gear. I put my luggage rack in the hitch, so we ended up with lots of room in the pickup for passengers. I drove the truck with G-pizzle, and Jason and Eric Jr. rode on the back seat. The van had Kaylee at the wheel, with Alyssa as her steady copilot. Lori, Sally, Michelle, Mason, Parker, Emily, Renato, Olivia and Traven filled up the van. That's 3 car seats my friends.

We stopped at the rest area just outside of Coalville to eat our sack lunches. We stayed at the Clarion Hotel that night. This was our first experience with the pandemic affecting the trip. You had to book a time to use the pool. That said, T, J, Eric Jr. and Renato were not going to miss a shot to swim, so a time was booked.

The grab-n-go breakfast was laughable. A bottle of water, a granola bar and two mini muffins. But it did the trick to get us on our way. We actually made pretty good time, considering the little ones, but it still took a long time to eventually arrive at Devil's Tower. I had thought we might hike around it, but that wasn't going to happen. Too much driving, too much heat and too many tired folks for that. We took some pics, and arrived at our rental in Rapid City around dinner time.

I looked up the house, and found it was built in 1951. Honestly, it felt like someone's Grandma passed away, and the family decided to turn her house into a rental. We made it work, but it definitely was not the nicest place to stay. It lacked adequate comfortable seating. One interesting thing is that the house only had one television, but we didn't miss it. The one TV was located downstairs, and it got used primarily by Traven and Renato!

Glenn, Allison, Caleb and Annie drove down from Wisconsin to vacation with us, which was awesome!

Sunday began our vacationing. First stop, Chapel in the Hills. It was built in the 1960s by a radio preacher. We spent a bit of time looking around, and took some excellent photos. I'm not sure where Michelle and Parker disappeared to in the family photo, but we got most of us.

Next, we journeyed to Cosmos Mystery Area. Personally, I would rename this attraction to "The Law of Gravity". They have built a couple of shacks onto the steep slope of a hill. Things are laid out to give your mind the impression that things are level, when in fact you are actually working against gravity to stay upright. It does give you a bit of an uneasy feeling, and some of our group tapped out early. Definitely would not do this again, especially given the price, but no regrets on vacation.

We next took in one of the family favorites for the trip, Bear Country. Mason and Parker both rode in the front on top of Jason for this one. Bears, reindeer, big horn sheep, wolves, deer, elk, etc. all were just wandering about as we drove through. The kids LOVED it. Actually, I think we all loved it. And with 15 people in the van, and a $65 flat max rate per vehicle, it was a bargain. We did spend a long time waiting for reindeer to clear the road, because it turns out they are just plain rude!

Monday was Rushmore day. It is an amazing sight, and definitely worth the $10 it takes to park. After taking some pics, some of us decided to hike to the base. The signs said it was close to 300 steps up and down, so only a handful of us went. It was so worth it. Once we were there, we discovered the trail is actually a loop, and the way back was basically level. Awkward. We all could have went that way!

Side note: Mason and Parker are not really into getting their picture taken.

Some of the crew took off for naps, while some stayed and walked around the town of Keystone. Alyssa, Eric Jr., Caleb, Traven and Annie did a zipline. T, Caleb and Annie also went miniature golfing. We browsed the numerous Trump shops, t-shirt shops, etc. Eventually, the van came back for us and we were off to Old Macdonald's Farm.

I'll be honest. I did not expect it to be the hit it was. We actually went back the next day as well. Parker it turns out speaks fluent Goat. Mason just kept saying, "I'm holding a baby goat". Olivia seemed enthralled as well. What I didn't expect was Traven, Caleb, Annie and Alyssa being so into the farm!

Tuesday was Custer State Park. The drive in the park is a challenge. Hair pin curves and narrow tunnels. I was amazed at Kaylee's driving of the van. I swear we had just inches to spare through two of the passes, but she made it. It would have been nice to do a bit more hiking, but this was mainly a drive and see it journey. We had planned on lunch at the house, but we found ourselves in the town of Custer, a long way from the house and HUNGRY! It was then I learned of Parker's deep love for chips and salsa. We are talking both hands in the salsa type of love!

We saw Crazy Horse from a distance, then finished out the day with some shopping and a return trip to the farm.

Wednesday, we saw the Badlands. I pitched a bit of a fit because the family wouldn't wait to see the Minuteman Missile visitor's center, but I guess most of them don't remember the cold war like I do. That said, the Badlands are a sight to behold. It's no wonder why they have the name they have, because they are rugged and probably weren't much good to the people that passed through.

Thursday was Deadwood. I was a bit underwhelmed by it, but we did get in some shopping and I ate a buffalo burger. Side note: Glenn had heard about an amazing Chinese food place in town, but we couldn't find it. Turns out it closed 7 years ago. Awkward.....

And that my friends is it! Friday we stayed in Rock Springs again, and Braden surprised his family by being there. This time we stayed at the Hampton Inn, which was definitely an upgrade. We were home by lunch time on Saturday.

A few of my favorite memories/moments include:

1. Celebrating Mason's birthday!

2. Eric Jr. mixing up his shoes and wearing one of Lori's all day on Thursday.

3. Hearing this sage card game advice: "If you can play, then you can play".

4. Answering the question, "What is Cr stal?"

5. Watching Parker wake up Jason every morning.

6. Observing Michelle and Mason at the Badlands, and wishing I was that brave.

7. Playing cards each night.

8. Having so many of the family together for meals at the house.

9. Glenn and Allison providing some killer green chile burritos.

10. Spending so much time with the family.

11. Sitting back and trying to relax while Kaylee did the driving in South Dakota.

12. Eric Sr. and his sense of humor.

13. I'm not a fan, but seeing all the Trump signs, shirts, banners, etc. was something to behold.

14. Mason wearing his new tool belt around and fixing everything.

15. Parker inventing a game where he just dives off of tables and expects someone to catch him.

My two regrets are from things being closed. I would have LOVED a tour of a Minuteman silo, and the Wind Caves and Jewel Caves are both amazing. Maybe we go back some day? It was definitely a great trip with many great memories made.

Disneyland 2019

What a trip! This was the first time we took all 10 of us on a vacation, and it was GREAT! We had Eric and Sally and Eric Jr staying with us; and Jeremy, Lauren, Lucy and Max were there for most of the same time period. And I got my photo op with Chadwick, so that was cool.

I like to take notes on what worked and what didn't, so each vacation can improve and avoid pitfalls from the past.

First off, my pre-vacation prep work was wonderful. We left to a mowed and trimmed lawn, and a clean house. That was a win for when we came home. Granted, the lawn now needs to be mowed, but it's not a jungle out there!

Driving down in two days was also a good idea. We stayed in Mesquite. It was fairly cheap (Virgin River) and the breakfast buffet was affordable.

The house we stayed at, in my opinion, was optimal. It had 3 master bedrooms, two other bedrooms with bunk beds, plus two large sectional couches. We had a total of 4 bathrooms, a pool and hot tub and a barbecue. We easily parked all 3 vehicles in the driveway. You could see the parking structures from the house, so the walk to the park entrance was well under a mile. We used the pool and hot tub a lot, and the bbq twice.



When we arrived and unpacked, we walked over to Downtown Disney. Traven was being an absolute BEAST. Turns out he was just really nervous about having to ride on rides he didn't want to. Once I made a deal with him that, if he was good, he could pass on any rides, he was GREAT! We ate at BlackTap. The burgers and shakes were so yummy, but I had hoped the portions would be slightly bigger for the price. Probably won't go back there.

MaxPass was definitely a necessity. The lines weren't long at all, but being able to bypass the lines for the more popular rides was a win. Another perk of MaxPass is PhotoPass is included, so you get some fun photos from different rides. My favorite is from The Incredicoaster! For months, T said he was going to face his fears and do it. We got there, and the first look he had it, he tapped out. But that night, he amped himself up again. With his heart racing, he rode that bad boy and LOVED it! From then on, he begged to ride it!

The Halloween party was a must do. The parade was short, and the special World of Color show was just plain weird. I did not care for it. But we got a ton of candy, and walked onto the rides.

I won't eat at the Blue Bayou again. They were the pirates, and I was the innocent victim being robbed and looted.

The Halloween Screams show plus fireworks was a highlight for me. Fun/gross story from that night now follows. I think maybe Lauren was tired, as they started saving a bench for the fireworks around 2 pm. I'd say by 4, they had been joined by Kaylee and were saving 3 benches! When the rest of us trickled in, Lauren, Jeremy, Lucy and Max left to ride Winnie the Pooh. When they returned, they asked to leave the kids with us while they picked up food. Max was buckled into his stroller, in front of his Grandma. She looked at him and said he didn't look good, and was going to hurl. She unbuckled him, aimed him away from us and POW! To her credit, she used some wipes to clean up the best she could. However, it's a rough, brick surface, so obviously some bio hazard remained. Well, as the time for the show approached, the game that we call Human Tetris began. Before we knew it, a couple had wormed their way right in front of us and immediately sat down. And guess where his hand landed? Yeah, I told you this was gross. We then had a great time texting back and forth about where his contaminated hands went. The lady's hair, shoulders and arms. His own mouth and straw. Does this make us bad people? I don't know, but it was HILARIOUS!

Smuggler's Run was great, but did not meet my expectations. However, the entire land is simply incredible. We saw storm troopers, Kylo Ren and even some First Order governor floating around. There were also some heroes, such as Rey and Chewy. You really feel like you have stepped into another world, with the buildings and star ships that can be seen. I tried blue milk and green milk. Bought some thermal detonators.

Driving back in one day is a no-go in the future. The only thing that made it bearable was I could listen to the Chargers game and then the Rams game, until around the Utah border. On the way down, I streamed the BYU game for my father-in-law. They got whooped, which made me happy!

3 days in a row is also a no-go. We were just too tired by Saturday, plus the Saturday crowds were just plain HUGE. If I did this again, I might do 3 day park hoppers, but also do 2 days of the party! Drive down on Saturday and Sunday. Full park day on Monday. Party on Tuesday. Rest on Wednesday. Party on Thursday, full day on Friday and then journey back. Yeah, I think that's what I'd do.

Sally and Eric Sr. didn't go with us on Saturday. She spent the day reading and doing laundry. 11 loads! How awesome is that? We arrived with clean clothes instead of dirty, stinky ones. YES!

The grandsons seemed to have a lot of fun. Mason was so observant, just trying to take everything in. Outside of just being on an adventure, I'd say his favorites were Jesse's Carousel - seemed to love the blue bunny the most. He also loved the boat rides - Jungle Cruise, the sailing Ship Columbia, Nemo - he loved them all. He didn't seem to get scared by anything either. Parker was his usual friendly self. Just smiling and flirting. He also seemed to love just looking around and being there with all the sights and sounds.

It was tiring. I totaled over 110,000 steps over our 5 park days, for an average of over 22,000 per day. That's a lot of steps and a lot of miles.

On a personal note, I now have 3 rides on my list of things I will not do. All 3 hurt me in various forms. So for me, Space Mountain, The Matterhorn and Monsters Inc. are all a no-go.

What a Weekend!

I've had a desire to record some experiences our family had this weekend. I won't dwell on some. Sure, the Jazz game was fun, and dinner with the family at Milagros was nice, but the real meat of the weekend started on Sunday.

First, Alyssa gave an amazing homecoming talk. She related a story of an older man, a devout Catholic, who had no interest in hearing from our missionaries. They said fine, but still wanted to talk about Christ. Slowly, this man's heart was softened. He hadn't been able to read for years due to failing eyesight, but they felt impressed to give him a Book of Mormon. He accepted it, and found that he could read it. He was frustrated, because he still couldn't read even the headlines of a newspaper, but the Book of Mormon was crystal clear.  He soon found himself deep into the book.

They then felt impressed to invite him to church, even though he hadn't left his house in years. This man walked for over 3 hours to get to church, and was so blessed for doing so.

She told another story of a very rainy Nicaragua day. The streets were filled with water up to their knees, but the missionaries decided to go to church anyway, since it was Sunday. As they neared the church, they could see a group of young men waiting anxiously. As people neared the church, which was surrounded by water up to their chests, these young men would go out and carry the church members into the church. They were exhausted, but they didn't stop and helped each church member arrive safely.

The story that she told of the last Sacrament she had in Nicaragua touches my soul each time I hear it. Things were scary as the missionaries had been evacuated to a hotel in the capital, and were awaiting word on where they all were going. They had passed through explosions, protests and barricades. They had left most of their possessions behind. But the main desire these missionaries had was to partake of the Sacrament. They gathered in a large conference room, and the bread and water were blessed and passed. She says it was the most spiritual meeting she has been in, and I think some of that same Spirit shows up when she tells the story.

It was so great to have friends and family attend church with us and gather at our house afterwards. However, one of the most touching interactions was with someone who could not attend. Due to work, health, weather, etc., Alyssa's friend Anna was stranded in Logan. There was just no way she could safely make it down late Saturday night. She sobbed on the phone, and you could feel her love and friendship for Alyssa. We speak of BFFs, and I know Alyssa has found one with Anna.

Now, let's turn our attention to Jason. It's tough being a college student, paying your own way through life, and he does his best to save each and every penny he can. He attends school in Rexburg, and found a ride down for the weekend which would save him some money. They have an app for sharing rides, so it ended up being Jason, the male driver and two females.

When he arrived on Friday, Jason mentioned that the driver was probably the worst driver he has ever been with. We laughed as he told of a few incidents on the way down.

Sunday afternoon came, and Jason was picked up and on his way back to Rexburg. He sends me a SnapChat around 5, showing the blizzard conditions they are driving in. At around 5:30 pm, I receive the following 3 text messages:

Don't worry. I'm totally okay but the driver lost control of the car and it rolled over.

Everybody was wearing a seatbelt so we are okay

Could you Venmo me some money so I can get a hotel room for tonight?

If that doesn't get a parents heart racing, I'm not sure what would! Side note, I was slightly impressed that even in this harrowing moment, he made sure to think of  a way to save some of his money.....

After he had sent the SnapChat, he had a prompting to say a prayer. In it, he asked that the 4 of them be kept from any serious injury. It was like he knew something bad was coming, and did the only thing he could think of. Well, after a high speed rollover accident, all 4 people in the car were able to walk away. The responding officer said they were lucky, that it should have been a lot worse. I tend to think that prayer might have had something to do with the results.

Big J was still shaken up, had managed to bump his head and was feeling sick, so they called the EMTs. To be safe, he was taken to the hospital in Malad. He checked out ok, which we are very grateful for.

And can I tell you how awesome Malad is? Lori called to get Jason a hotel room for the night. Hotel Malad, in case you ever need a vacation spot! The guy who answered said he had one room and would go open it up and turn on the heat. He also said he wasn't near the office, so he'd just call tomorrow and arrange for payment on the room. He also kept asking if Jason was ok.

The doctor from the ER gave Jason a ride to the hotel!

And I don't know how many of these random strangers are from Malad, but at the scene of the accident, strangers stopped to help. One lady took them into her car so they could stay warm while waiting for help. A fish and game officer stopped and helped. Heavenly Father seems to always slip in tender mercies into our lives.

Of course, back home, we were torn with what to do. The weather was fine, and Jason was only about 2 hours away. We said a prayer, and asked that we know if we should go to him or not. We didn't feel strongly one way or the other, so Alyssa and I decided to head out. We did feel we needed something with 4 wheel drive, so we headed to Mapleton to borrow a car. When we arrived, Alyssa almost immediately heard from two of her friends. One was in Logan and showed us the weather there. It was bad. Another had just arrived back in Logan, and had a treacherous drive. She also said she had friends stranded in Pocatello due to road conditions. We still weren't sure, but then for some reason we could not reach Jason on the phone and were delayed about 15 minutes. In that time, the storm arrived and road conditions worsened. It was evident by then we weren't supposed to go.

One final star of the story is another BFF of Alyssa's, Emily. Emily just happened to be headed back to Rexburg on Monday, and offered to pick up Jason. So, he might be sore, but he ended up safe and sound back at school.

God is there for us. He allows nature to run its course, and He doesn't stop all bad things from happening. But so many times I have seen that He knows we are going to pass through a trial, but provides tender mercies to us to help and strengthen us.

Three Parks, One Day

Yeah, I know. Most folks talk of doing all 4 Orlando Disney parks in one day (not including the water parks). And we could have done this, but that would have meant cutting Mickey's Christmas party short, and that wasn't happening! I'll take the 3 we did and the way we did it and call it a success!

We arrived at Epcot around 8:30 am. Our GPS was kind enough to remind us that the park was closed until 9. Thanks Google, but the plan was to be there early! We opted for preferred parking, as that seemed key to our success. Preferred means parking close, which cuts down on the time it takes to transfer from park to park. And hey, with this type of parking, you get cold water bottles each time you park, so that's a win!

After a brief hiccup, where the attendant's bar code scanner would not work with our tickets, we were in! (Thanks customer service with the iPad that would work for scanning!). We had 3 rides in mind for this park, so we headed to Test Track. We were stuck inside for a bit, as the ride had some sort of issue, and this one ride took an hour. Worth the wait, but I was already concerned about the schedule. Mission Space: Orange went quick. Not much of a line at all for this ride. I'm still not sure how Disney makes it feel like you are pulling several Gs and actually launching into space, but we landed our spaceship on Mars successfully! A brief break for drinks and a Pluto popcorn bucket, and we were off to Soarin'. We were on the far right, which meant a bit of distortion in some of the taller objects, but hey, this ride is still one of my favorites!

On a related note, Radiator Springs Racers seems to have a very similar technology to Test Track, but is so much better.

Now, we moved the car to Animal Kingdom. We did Dinosaur, which was great, but I just kept thinking, this is no Indiana Jones! Traven and I then did the Primeval Swirl, as we could just walk on. It's a fun ride, but if you don't like sudden turns or spinning (Lori), it's not for you!

And now, a key moment of the day. Expedition Everest. Traven did NOT want to do this one. There was some bargaining, and I finally convinced him to try it. I'd only been on it once, so when he asked if it was dark, I said not that I remembered. Uh, turns out it has quite a bit of darkness. He survived, wanted to beat me up after, but I could see a slight sparkle in his otherwise angry eyes. A few minutes later, he said he'd probably do it again, that it wasn't that bad. We did Nav'ii River journey after this, which was pretty, but so not worth the 2 hour wait time some folks had. Thank goodness for FastPass+! As we left it, Traven was begging for another run at Expedition Everest. He loved it!

Lori was feeling a bit sick at this point, from Mission Space and EE, so she sat out our 2nd run at Everest. We had lunch reservations at the Yak and Yeti, and she felt better after eating. I have to say, this was my least favorite Disney eatery of all time. It's not that the food was bad, it just wasn't as good as I've come to expect from places like Carthay Circle and Blue Bayoo.

You know, I'm just going to say it. Disneyland > Disney World.  Yeah, World is bigger and has a lot more to do, but it just doesn't have the same level of magic as Disneyland.

After letting Traven do Primeval one more time, we were off to Magic Kingdom. I had never parked there - only taken the bus to the park, and I did not realize that you take the Monorail from parking over to the park. Bonus ride!

The party did not disappoint. I was curious how they cleared the park for those that didn't pay for the party, and it turns out it's a bit of crowd management plus wristbands. I wasn't sure what all the party entailed, and I'm not sure we even scratched the surface. There was non-stop entertainment from a stage in front of the castle. A dance party was going on in one of the restaurants. There were singers on a stage in Tomorrowland. Two parades, fireworks and who knows what else? And the treats, oh my goodness! You just had to look for the glowing candy cane blow-ups. We had apple cider, hot chocolate, grape soda and eggnog. We had sugar, gingerbread, chocolate chip and all manner of cookies. We were handed chocolates. We had slushies. We somehow missed the pretzels, and I think we missed many other treats. But honestly, how much can you eat?

The ride lines were great! With people distracted by all the other things going on, we walked right onto Pirates. Haunted Mansion was like a 10 minute wait. We did Peter Pan in 15 minutes. 15 MINUTES! We also did Small World, Big Thunder, Teacups, Tomorrowland Speedway and Buzz Lightyear,  We could have done more, but we honestly ran out of steam towards the end, and when the parade ended at 11:30 pm, we decided to call it a day.

So, as always, notes for next time?

• At over 28,000 steps, non-cotton socks and newer underwear are recommended. 
• Patience. Poor Traven was exhausted, and the problem is that when he is exhausted, he becomes even more hyper and grows a bit cranky. The lunch break helped, and he devoured a bacon cheeseburger around 10 pm. But he did require and deserved a lot of TLC.
• The party was so worth it. I'd for sure do one again.
• The inline games were fun, but bring lots of battery chargers! Between FastPass+, games, photos and other usage, I completely drained my phone twice.

Update #1:

I just remembered three things I wanted to mention! One, we went to "It's Tough to be a Bug!". I will always miss the Bug's Life stuff at California Adventure, but knowing this gem is at Animal Kingdom eases the pain a little bit.

Two, there's something magical about watching and hearing people experience something wonderful for the first time. I had some newbies to Soarin' near me on that ride, and to hear the wonder in their voices was special. And I think we had a room full of first timers with us for the Bug show, and there was a lot of screaming and laughter.

Third, there is so much to do and see at the Disney parks, that sometimes we can miss something for years. For instance, this was the first time that Lori noticed the hanging person in Haunted Mansion! That's right - that prop has been above her head dozens of times, and on this trip she finally saw it!

Ok, four things. When it comes to the holidays, Disneyland is so much better. I missed the holiday overlays to Haunted Mansion and Small World.

The Venison Chronicles

We have a certain family member who is scared of deer. Deer are literally the stuff of her nightmares. And being the loving, kind people we are, we tend to go out of our way to share pictures of deer with her.

The subject of deer tends to send me back to memories of my childhood. Growing up in Milton meant almost daily encounters with deer from early fall until late spring. The harsh winter conditions would push the animals from their higher summer elevations down into the valley, where they could find food and water. If it was a particularly bad winter, the deer casualties would be high. I think it was someone's job to drive the county roads on a daily basis to gather the fallen.

You also have to know that I could walk out our back porch door and instantly be hunting deer. We lived right next to the hills. Open the door, climb the old wooden stairs, cross the foot bridge over the canal and start the ascent. The first few hundred feet was our property, and it was a pretty steep climb. Hop the fence onto a bit of a flat area, and you were in deer territory. You could head to your left towards a thicket of scrub brush and Line Creek, head straight towards the mountains, or head to your right toward endless, rolling hills. My Dad and I actually filled our deer tags one year from this very spot. Two bucks standing in the distance, taken out at the same moment by two well place shots. Ah, good times. The nice thing about that time was it was a downhill, straight shot to get the venison down to the abandoned Dell Monte cannery, which sat right on the county road. Then it was a quick walk to get a truck, then take the meet back to our old stone building.

Parts of my childhood home were over a hundred years old, and one of many interesting structures was the stone building. It looked like something out of a Stephen King novel. It was constructed out of large bricks. No, not the type of brick you picture. These bad boys were probably about 1 foot x 1 foot, and had a texture like sand. You could carve your name into them pretty easily. It sat behind the back porch, had no windows and just a large, heavy wooden door. It was small, probably about 8 feet by 10 feet. It had a work table, blood stained from years of game processing. The ceiling contained several pulleys and chains, devised to hoist whatever needed to be handled. The only light was from a bare bulb in the middle of the ceiling. About 3/4 of the building was surrounded by the hill side. Between the house, dirt and large Cottonwood trees, the building never saw the sun. It had a chill, even on a hot summer day. Now picture two deer, swinging from the ceiling. You're welcome.

For our second deer related story, several of us had been up to no good. Let's just leave it at that. We had parked my buddy's car behind the church and were just hiding out. We were already on edge, when we started to hear it. Behind the church was a bunch of scrub oak and brush, and something was moving in there. Not like an animal - we'd all heard that many times. No, this was slow, heavy, deliberate. It was also breaking a lot of brush, something a normal animal would not do. As it grew nearer and nearer, louder and louder, we decided to make a break for it. We piled in the car and left in a hurry. There we were, driving way too fast down the county road, completely scared out of our minds, when it happened. A deer hit the car! Yes, you read that right. We did not hit a deer. A deer literally ran head first into the driver's side window. It pressed the side of its head into the glass, and held it there as we sped past. I can still see its wide open, dazed and confused eye staring at me. I'm not sure how we didn't die from a heart attack or from a flaming wreck, but we survived.

This next deer story might approach a PG-13 rating. My friend and I were skipping school to deer hunt. This was actually a pretty normal thing for that time. As we crested a hill and looked down into the ravine, we saw a nice buck. It had not heard us coming, and was really close. It was startled and running towards us. I took the shot. Somehow the bullet ripped a hole in the deer's throat and cleared off about 1/2 of its face. But it didn't go down, and it was still heading towards us. At this point, it is making a horrible sound as air and blood pass through the new opening.  I take a 2nd shot, but I'm so freaked out by the sight that I miss. My friend is laughing hysterically, and is no help whatsoever. The zombie deer slows, but continues its death march to extract revenge upon me. I take another shot, this time finishing the job. Next story.

It's the bow hunt. I'm covered in camo, my scent covered with some deer musk. I've also covered most of me in leaves, and I'm laying in wait along a game trail that leads down to Line Creek. My face is even covered up with war paint. I'm in the perfect spot for a 4 point I've been stalking for weeks. I'm hunting old school, with a re-curved bow. None of that compound bow nonsense for me. The bow has plenty of tension, and I've been practicing for months. I've been in place for about an hour, when I see him. I'm upwind, the setting sun to my back. He's about 50 yards off, but unaware of me and still approaching. When he's about 20 yards off, I begin my movement. Ever so slowly, I stand up. Now he sees me, but he's not sure what I am and can't smell me, so he's just watching. The bow slowly rises to a shooting position. I notch my razor tipped hunting arrow. He turns broadside to me. This could not be any better. 20 yards, broadside and still. As I release the arrow, my bow twists. They aren't supposed to do that! This causes the arrow to not only lose velocity, but it ends up hitting the deer with its side. So instead of bagging my deer, I end up giving it a good, hard slap! It takes off, and I'm just dumbfounded. I drop my broken bow and start my long, dejected hike home. This time, the deer won.

I had many other encounters with mule deer, but these are the most memorable. I've ran into 3 while driving, but all 3 times was in one of our old trucks, with the spare tire mounted on the front. When you see you are about to hit a deer and you are driving a truck like that, you still hit the brakes, but aim the tire at the animal. If it is smart and/or fast enough, it will get out of the way. Otherwise, that deer is going to go flying.

Leaving Nicaragua

I wanted to jot down a few thoughts and the information I know about Hermana Elquist's departure from Nicaragua, mainly for her. I worry that the entire event was such a shock that some of the many miracles along the way might get lost or forgotten. Of course, this is told from my point of view. I'm sure she will have things to add to the story.

Friday afternoon, Presidente Poncio sent out an email, saying the work was going well, the missionaries were on an adjusted schedule, but everyone was safe and not to worry.

Saturday was a very bad day in Nicaragua. More deaths occurred, including the specific targeting of two US citizens. Also, at least two church members were killed.

On Sunday, during Sunday school, my phone started to go off. Generally, I'd ignore it, but it was enough that I checked to see what was going on. The family of Hermana Curtis was asking me if I'd seen the news on Facebook. Members from Nicaragua were asking me if Alyssa was ok. I went home, thus beginning my 24+ hours of sheer panic.

News was trickling in, but the consensus seemed to be that the church had announced in some parts that the missionaries were leaving. It turns out that in many zones, they were already gone.

Saturday night at 10:00 pm, Alyssa received word that they needed to be to the church at 4:00 am to be evacuated. Due to the many roadblocks in place, the buses were several hours late. It took a long time and several bribes to pass through the blockades, but they eventually arrived at the Best Western in Managua, where the entire mission was gathered.

They had all left in such a hurry, with no chance to say goodbye to anyone. There was a general sense of disbelief and shock among the missionaries. Some (including Alyssa) begged to be able to stay. These youth really had learned to love the country and the people. In talking to Alyssa, she told us about the Sacrament meeting they put together in a conference room at the hotel. They were able to take the Sacrament together and hear from the mission president. She said it was one of the most spiritual experiences she has ever had. Tears were shed as they said their goodbyes and found out where they would be serving next. She even got a big hug from President Poncio, which she said she was not ready for. I can only imagine the heartbreak these wonderful missionaries experienced. Alyssa did get to say goodbye to Hermana Caballero.

Of course back home, Lori and I were a mess. We slept little, and basically just kept checking our emails and Alyssa's bank account for any activity. Suddenly early Monday morning, a charge for Las Hamacas popped up. I was unable to figure out what that  was. Frustrating! Then the family of Sister Curtis pinged me, saying a charge for over $200 had popped up on Emma's account, and she had purchased an airplane ticket. I was out jogging, trying to clear my mind, and I hit the panic button. Did Alyssa have that much in her account? I thought I'd better get some more in her account. I called my wife to pick me up, so I could get on my laptop and transfer some funds. Only after I hung up and had calmed down a bit did I remember I had the Mountain America app on my phone and could transfer money in with a few touches. Oops!

Lori told me I could not go to work. She had faith Alyssa would call with news, but she didn't know whose cell phone she would call. Michelle brought over our grandson to help distract us and pass the time. I saw a charge for Chick-Fil-A 69 come in. Where was that? I Googled it, and Lori actually called the franchise headquarters, but to no avail. I did see they do not have any international locations, so it would seem Alyssa was back on US soil.

Finally, Alyssa called! We had sent a Tracfone with her when she left, so she could call us while passing time at a long layover in Atlanta. She had kept it, charged it up, and put some more minutes on it. Smart girl! She once again called from Atlanta, only this time on her way to the Indiana, Indianapolis mission. What a relief for us, but she was so sad and I could tell she was just in shock from it all. Tears were shed, and we tried our best to reassure her. She called again once she was in Indiana.

When Alyssa got to the airport in Managua, the mission home had lost her residency card. The country was not going to let her leave. The church actually had to basically pay a bribe to get Alyssa out of the country. How crazy is that? And the truth finally came out - it was very dangerous down there! Alyssa said she has many stories to tell us. I can only imagine. She was so alarmed when she learned President Poncio was staying behind. She asked us to pray for his safety.

When I heard Indiana, two people came to mind. One, our son Braden served there! And two, one of Alyssa's best friends, Mckenzie Branch, was serving there RIGHT NOW! I texted her Mom, who almost immediately called Lori. Let's just say we have a pretty detailed shopping list now of things to send to Alyssa!

Kenzie's Mom also told Sister Branch that Alyssa was on her way, and she sprang into action. She is a sister training leader out there, so she called the mission president and arrange for her to be the one to pick up Alyssa and take her to her first area! And she said she was taking Alyssa a dress, as Alyssa is pretty concerned about the state of her clothing. I am so thankful for tender mercies such as this. Alyssa is very sad about leaving Nicaragua, but this will really help her. Here's a pic of the day Kenzie opened her mission call!

Another fun story. Sister Branch received her call about a month before Alyssa. Right after she got her call, she had a dream about Alyssa serving in the same mission. When Alyssa was called to Nicaragua, they chalked it up as just a dream. Let's just say the spirit was felt strongly, and more tears shed, when Alyssa was sent to Indiana.

Braden has been in contact with folks he knows where Alyssa will be serving, and I think some dinners have been arranged!

I know Heavenly Father was watching over the missionaries, and their departure couldn't have been delayed any longer. My heart breaks for the good people of Nicaragua, and they remain in my prayers. I pray for the safety of President Poncio as he remains in country. I pray for the members I have come to know that are down there. Mari Mendoza is a member in Managua, who actually works at the airport. She expressed the sorrow of watching all the missionaries leaving while she was at work, and I can't even begin to understand how that must have hurt. I told her to keep the faith, and that missionaries would be back someday. A temple will be built in Nicaragua for the good church members. The work will go on. Maybe the enemy feels he has obtained a victory in this battle, but the war goes on.